


Quick fix 712.

by TimeforAstory



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 17:53:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17688086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimeforAstory/pseuds/TimeforAstory
Summary: A quick fix for episode 712. Not the whole documentary thing that I was really looking forward from the episode description, that didn't have anything to do with it. I missed Felicity. I missed Olicity. I missed OTA.  I miss everything that made Arrow a great show...Sorry for the ramble.  I'm just really sad for what my show has become.





	Quick fix 712.

“We had each other’s back…”

The words echoed around the interrogation room, striking a chord with Oliver and he stepped forward toward John, hand raised to halt him, “John, I have to ask. What happened while I was in prison?” 

The older man looked back at him warily. Oliver got the distinct impression he was weighing his possible answers. Before he could offer up any, Oliver stepped closer still and continued.

“I need to know what happened while I was gone. What happened with you and Felicity. She won’t talk to me about it. I haven’t pressed her too hard. I’ve been afraid of opening Pandora’s box. We’re still trying to find our way back to each other.” Oliver seemed to be at a loss for a second. His gaze dropped to the floor. When he looked back up, John was struck by the deep sorrow he saw in his friend’s face. “I’m not stupid. You don’t come around the apartment. She doesn’t text you a hundred times a day like she used to. She’s had next to nothing to say about you, Dinah or Curtis. She seems to tolerate Rene of all people. She worked with Black Siren to get me out of prison and got a gun from Anatoly…”

“We weren’t there for her, Oliver.” John interrupted, stepping away from Oliver and over to the window of the interrogation room. Oliver saw the man had the grace to look ashamed as he said it. He stared out at the city as he spoke, not able to meet Oliver’s eyes. “She needed us, the team, and we weren’t there. I got to busy with my work at Argus and I trusted the agents I had with her at the safe house. She was attacked and I wasn’t there. I read the report of what happened, she never told me herself. She threw a pot of hot coffee on him to distract him while Will ran. She hit him with coffee pot then when he tried to shoot her and knocked the gun away. She defended herself with a fireplace poker until he threw her through a glass coffee table. Will alerted the agents who were taking a break outside and they barely made it back in time.” 

John finally glanced up and found Oliver staring sightlessly into the room, no doubt imagining what his wife had went through. Tears shone clearly in his eyes. John could feel the moisture gathering in his own eyes as he thought about seeing her at the Argus for the first time after the attack. He had been shocked to learn that she had sent Will with the guards back to Argus headquarters but had went alone to see Oliver at the prison. He remembered being surprised that she hadn’t asked him to go with her and then feeling a pang of remorse as he realized that he wasn’t her go-to person anymore. 

“She wouldn’t tell me the details. Only that he had gotten in and they had fought.” Oliver voice came out in harsh, choked whisper. “She always changes the subject.”

“When she refused to go back into witness protection, I argued with her. When she wanted to take down Diaz, I was too worried about my own mission with Argus. I told her, I told her to forget about you, Oliver.” He watched as Oliver’s head snapped up to look at him. “I told her that she needed to move on and accept her life the way it was. I’m so sorry.”

John walked over to the table in the center of the room and slumped down in a chair. Placing his elbows on the table, he cradled his head in his hands as he continued, “I knew she was sinking. I knew it. I watched her align herself with Black Siren and Anatoly. I saw her going down the rabbit hole and I didn’t do anything to pull her out. I just kept telling myself that she was wrong and she just didn’t want to face facts. But it shouldn’t have mattered. She’s my family and when she needed me, I failed her.” 

Oliver looked at where he sat, defeated, head bowed and he pushed aside the anger he felt. 

“I want to be mad at you, John. I trusted you too. I thought when I went to prison, they would be safe. They had the team, but more importantly, they had you. I see the person Felicity is now and make no mistake, I love her more than ever. But I hate the fact that she is so scared now. She works on her security programs all the time. She outfitted the apartment with Kevlar curtains. I never wanted that for her. John, you did fail her.” Oliver paused, taking a deep breath and John looked up to meet his gaze, “But so did I. I left her. I made the choice to turn myself in without even discussing it with her or really thinking about how it would affect her. So as mad as I want to be at you, I have to reserve some of it for myself.” 

“So where do we go from here?” John questioned as Oliver slid into the seat across from him. 

“I don’t know. We can’t undo everything she’s been through, the choices she had to make…” Oliver leaned back in his seat, running a hand through his hair. John caught the slight tremble in his hand, an indication of his agitation. “But you are right, we need to be a team again. You need to make this right with Felicity. She part of this team, we’re not whole without her. I don’t understand why you haven’t approached her already.”

“She asked me to go to the prison with her to get you. But it was just a smoke screen. She said she didn’t want you to be burdened with anything else. I hoped that when you came back, everything would just fall back into place. Then it became obvious that that wasn’t gonna happen. Honestly, I was just too ashamed to say anything. How was I supposed to bring it up to her? ‘I’m sorry I turned my back on you’? Any time we were in the same room, she just sort of pretending nothing had happened, but I could tell it was pretend. She wasn’t opening up to me, so I just kept my distance.”

Oliver shot him a side eye and John sighed, “I know it’s weak excuse and I’m usually the voice of reason, but I lost my way and then after so long, I wasn’t sure how to get back.”

“You could start by telling her all of this.” John heaved a sigh and shook his head. “The same way I’m going to. I’m heading home and we are going to have a long talk. I need to apologize for my part in all this again, but this time I need to make her listen. Pretending everything is ok and hoping things smooth over is not going to work in the long term. She deserves better than that. So do I.”

The topic of conversation changed quickly to how to handle the vigilante stalker and how to proceed with the team. After a few minutes, the final decision had been made and a few details ironed out. Both men stood and Oliver stuck out his hand. John clasped his hand and for the first time in a long time, they felt like brothers again. As Oliver headed out of the building, he was already thinking of home, of Felicity. He had been letting things go too long, not wanting to push or pry, wanting to give her space. At least, that was the excuse he gave himself. If he was honest, really honest, the truth was he was afraid. What if he pushed her and she finally opened up and he would have to realize exactly how much his decision had cost her? Well now he knew some of it, at least second hand. He couldn’t imagine the terror she had felt when faced with Diaz alone. Hearing some of the details put her need for such in depth security measures in context. The team abandoning her explained why she had turned to the only people at her disposal. Maybe if they had talked about all this before…

He would fix that tonight. Will was staying with a friend tonight, so they would have the apartment to themselves. It was time to get everything out in the open. It was time to heal.


End file.
